The Flames
by The Honor Lord
Summary: She devoted her life to fighting these flames but it has taken so much from her, it has taken nearly everything from her. If only it had taken everything from her. Then she would have nothing to lose at last and end it all. But it hasn't. She is burned but not scorched. Not yet.


**AN:** Lately ASOUE has been on my mind constantly and in particular a certain Kit Snicket and a Dewey Denouement. And in the middle of writing a fanfic-thing for them (not this one) I decided to go read all the Kit/Dewey fics on this site only to discover Dewey wasn't even an option in the character list. So I had to e-mail support and ask them to add Dewey (and Frank and Ernest just to be fair) to the list. Which they did surprisingly quickly, less than 24 hours.

But yes. Fic. Here.

I don't know what I was on when I wrote this...

Parts I and II happens shortly after Jacques died while Part III takes place right before The Pentultimate Peril (actually during The Grim Grotto, before the ending but meh specifics). Parts IV - VIII should be fairly clear.

Happy reading (or not).

* * *

**I.**

A woman kneels by the edge of a pond, her sobs echoing across the empty lawn in the early morning. One hand is on her stomach while the other is dipped in the water, causing ripples to distort the reflection of the building behind her. She is alone, the only one in her family left. Her whole family gone, went up in flames.

Except not really. None of them died from literal flames, but rather the metaphorical ones, the ones caused by the schism that ruined her life and countless others.

She devoted her life to fighting these flames but it has taken so much from her, it has taken nearly everything from her. If only it had taken everything from her. Then she would have nothing to lose at last and end it all. But it hasn't. She is burned but not scorched. Not yet.

In the reflection, she sees one of the few the flames have spared. He walks up to her and touches her shoulder. She trembles more, before allowing herself to collapse in his arms. She feels safest there, safer than she could ever feel anywhere else. Here in the last safe place with the man who will always keep her safe. If only her family could be safe too.

But he is her family now. He and the child inside of her is her family now. And she cannot give up. But for now she stays in his arms, where he whispers comforting words that only he knows will work, his voice and soft hands calming her down as her sobs slowly die.

Perhaps one day they will go up in flames as well, but for now, she will stay with him. He picks her up, kissing her forehead, as he brings her inside. The gentle rock of his footsteps lulls her to sleep and she is no longer crying.

**II.**

As he lays her down in their bed, he kisses away the tears lingering on her cheeks. There is a dull ache in his heart, seeing her so broken. Once upon a time they were young and happy (but not carefree. They were never carefree) but slowly the flames caught up to them. Or at least they caught up to her. The flames did nothing but trap him, teasing him with the heat of them but never hurting him.

He longed to escape, like she did, to shoulder some of the pain for her, but pain does not work like that. The only thing he could do for her now is to pour water on her burns and try to soothe her hurts.

He climbs into the bed next to her and she stirs, waking up from her light sleep. She looks into his eyes and his heart breaks, seeing a new dullness in her eyes. He whispers her name, brushing a strand of hair from her face and she half smiles. Drawing her closer to him, he strokes her hair, assuring her that he would never leave her, that he would always be here.

After all, it is always her that leaves.

**III.**

He begs her not to go, he begs her to think of the child, _their_ child. She wants to desperately stay by his side, but in the back of her mind, all she can think of is the grown children, _the woman's_ children. The children of her brother's old lover and she owes it to her and she owes it to him to help them. She tries to explain it to him, but she was never quite as eloquent as he when it came to words.

She tells him that she needs to see them, to see how much they look like their mother and she needs to help them, because her brother isn't here anymore to do so. He still refuses to see why and she can see the tears beginning to well up in his eyes. She had started crying a long time ago.

She tells him that they have been burned by the flames, just as she was and she did not want to see them scorched. He is even more adamant and the tears fall from his cheeks.

Finally, she tells him that the reason why she had to help them was because she hoped that someone, one day, would do so for the child, _their_ child.

He lets her go after that.

As she drives the taxi away from the hotel, she can't help but feel as if that would be the last time she would see him.

**IV.**

When he sees the children that she helped, suddenly he understands why she did so, although he is positive that she had not seen them prior to going to help them. But the children are so lost, stumbling around in the smoke, not knowing what is the flame and what is the water that will soothe their burns.

He helps them and all the while he hopes that she is okay, that their own child is okay. Seeing the three children in front of him makes him hope for the day that he will be able to raise his own.

Hope.

He hadn't experienced that in a while.

Flames burns hope as easily as it burns paper.

**V.**

Dread. The same dread that took her when the flames had burned her last.

And she knows what is about to happen and she screams. She is in a helicopter but she screams because the fire has burnt her once again and she screams because she can't go on living like this.

If only she did not have a child. Then she could just jump out of the helicopter right now and end it all because the flames have almost succeeded in scorching her.

She only has one more thing to loose.

**VI.**

Funny.

He doesn't feel pain. It's more numb than anything.

The children are at his side and he can't hear them. They sound so distant, but he can guess. He tries to assure them that it is not their fault and he wonders if they know that.

He hopes that she will not despair and continue to live on and raise their child, but somewhere in his dying heart, he knows that she will follow him soon after. And strangely enough it gives him comfort.

As he looks up, he sees his prison and he wants to laugh. Even in his last moments, the flames still keep him trapped, but at last they have finally closed in on him.

With the last bits of his strength he manages to form her name and force it out.

She was the only one who ever mattered.

And he falls…

Falling…

**VII.**

It is almost done.

She feels her strength leaving her and it is all she can do to bring this child into the world before she leaves it. She almost wants to give up but she can hear him whisper those comforting words to urge her to continue and the promise that after it, it will be all over.

With one last ounce of strength, the child is brought into the world and her vision goes black. Just before she is gone, however, she manages to breathe his name, barely audible.

And suddenly all of the pain has disappeared.

The flames are gone.

**VIII.**

"_Kit…"_

"_Dewey..."_


End file.
